My name is Brandy Fortune, and I design knit-wear for kids. I love Crème Brulée, Sci-Fi, 70 degree weather and reading a good book in bed. I spend my time knitting, sewing, taking pictures, co-editing the web-zine 
There is a lot of talk going on lately about “mom bloggers” and how most mom bloggers who are trying to make a living off of it are under-estimating their own worth. These mom blogs have been exploding for a while now and are another internet sub-culture in blogging the same way the knitting blogs are. I am guessing there are more mom blogs then knitting blogs and as it is at its height right now I am sure there are loads (I would say the knitting blogs hit their max in 2006, or around then).
The first “mom blog” I ever read was Dooce.com the famous blogger who got fired from her job for blogging about work (even though she never named them or even said where she worked). When I started reading her she had her daughter Leta who was I think around 1 year old or so. I always found her writing very funny, and enjoyed reading about her daughter even though at the time I didn’t have kids (I think her daughter is 5 now).
She has a real aesthetic and a great sense of style. In the past 2 years as her home life has seemed “happier” her blog isn’t as fun to read I think because she is less angst-y. At the same time she as far as I know runs her website and blog full time and supports the family with it. I think her husband does web design stuff as a part of that. I had noticed a lot of entries about “stuff” she had purchased (or I could only assume she had purchased) and after a while I got suspicious she was being paid to talk about this stuff, and I un-subscribed, not because I minded the reviews, but because it got to be to much of that vs the other content I liked. I can think of two instances off the top of my head of purchases I made because of her blog.
Purchasing Influence
I got an IceBat Ugly doll after seeing it in a photo of her daughters room, as well as I believe on Scouts Blog photos. Most of my purchases in the past few years are either from A) seeing someone in real life using something, B) Reviews on amazon.com and other various trusted website (REI, LL Bean, Babysrus, Target etc), or C) from blog reviews (paid or unpaid, who knows).
Just last week after Dooce posted a beautiful photograph of her tall and lean pregnant self in an adorable trench jacket she had gotten from Target Maternity I ran out and got it (yes I have re-subscribed to her because I can’t get enough Leta stories as I have practically watched that child grow up, and I want to see her new baby when she comes). I couldn’t find a mirror in target (evil) so I tried it on when i got home. What a waste of $44 (to be returned!) as my 5’2 self looked like a balloon in that jacket compared to how she looked. Not happy. But I spent $44 at target because of Dooce.com so the truth is; bloggers have lots of power to affect people’s buying habits.
After all during the height of knitting bloggers have we all not influenced each other in yarn purchases, wheel purchases, spindles and needles? Would you have known about the Harmony Knit Picks needles if you had not read the various glowing reviews on blogs? How about that addi turbo came out with an interchangeable set? What about Blue Moon Socks that Rock, come on without blogs half of us wouldn’t have ever heard of them, or it would have taken a lot longer to take on so much ground, or they wouldn’t have had as many sales. Yarn Harlot and January One alone seemed to rocket STR into rock stardom. I have to say this, I don’t believe for one moment they got paid to blog about that yarn. Maybe I am naive and I wouldn’t be shocked at all if they received freebies but I just don’t think they got paid to blog about those things, I have almost always felt those sort of things are genuine. I don’t think Mr. Lendrum was running around shipping free wheels to people so he could sell more of them.
I can’t find the link right now but there is a big argument about how crass it is for mom bloggers to accept freebies to blog about (your worth more then a freebie!) and also how crass it is to ask for freebies to blog about, because the blogger just wants the freebie.
Free Yarn
This gets more complex for me as a designer, is it not socially acceptable within the knit designing community to approach yarn companies and ask for “free” sample yarn with which to play with and possibly write patterns about? Is that also wrong? I didn’t think so when I first thought about it, because I am not working for them, the patterns will be my own to sell myself and no one else makes a profit on them. It would be different if I was designing FOR them well then of course they should hire me, and I would never use yarn for a pattern/project that I didn’t approve of and like working with, in particular if I am going to charge for that pattern. Is it wrong/un-ethical/crass to ask yarn companies for yarn samples?
How to keep the validity of honest and un-sponsored reviews
Now back to blogging about things you bought (or didn’t). I have often written little reviews on my blog about things I love, for many reasons. 1) I want to share with others this great/quality purchase that made my life happier or easier 2) I want to reward that company for creating a great product. I have many times in my life at a restaurant/store etc asked for a manager, only to have them look very nervous and sigh in relief when I let them know how good so-and-so was with helping us. They almost always say “oh i thought you had a problem”. It’s good to let people know when things are being done RIGHT.
I have received some gifts from sweet readers, which I don’t think at all counts (like random acts of kindness, remember those hair ties from Australia I had help getting? I wear them EVERY SINGLE day!) and as for more commercial type items I once blogged about how I wanted to make something and a shop e-mailed me with a discount code, I’m sure with some motivation that I would blog about knitting with it and another small indie publisher sent me some wonderful books she had published and I am pretty darn sure when I later mentioned them in my blog I did mention they were sent to me, not that I purchased them as I believe in being honest. Also that person specifically said in their note when they sent the books along that they did not request or expect it to be blogged about.
I can imagine someone like the Yarn Harlot and other more popular bloggers get similar packages and e-mails. Is it a dirty little secret I shouldn’t be blogging about? I don’t think so. It is a question to be asked though, what is okay and what isn’t? Is it any different for knitting blogs then for the mom blogs, and am I wrong in my assumption that 90% of the knitting blog reviews are genuine reviews that the writer has purchased themselves and simply wanted to rave about (or in some rare cases, warn people about).
Now there is talk about ‘sponsored conversations‘ aka getting paid to blog about something and how google is putting the smack down on these bloggers, and I wonder are the innocent bloggers at risk of being black listed by Google? I am sure loads of us have linked to amazon.com before to reference books or movies. Does that count? How does Google know if it is “sponsored’ or not?
Yarn Samples: I know a lot of people who would say “The worst they can say is no.” If you look at it from the yarn producer’s standpoint, they may stand to sell a whole lot of yarn to people who like your design and want to knit it in the same yarn, even the same colorway. For a yarn producer, it *is* a risk. It’s generally part of the marketing budget, but it is a risk. What if your pattern makes their yarn look like cat barf? What if your pattern doesn’t sell well because you’ve chosen the wrong type of yarn for it because you got it free?
As an “indie dyer” (I don’t really like that term, but it’s the accepted nomenclature), I get requests to donate yarn for this thing and that, and I think about each and every request. We’re a small company, and really, affording to be able to send away skeins of yarn for no profit (and paying shipping on top of that) isn’t in our budget. We’ll accept sometimes (like sponsoring the fingerless gloves group newsletter, or donating to one of the festivals we go to), but most of the time, it’s not worth it to us to do so.
A larger producer may see it as less of a risk, as they have more capital, and the loss of even 10 skeins of yarn doesn’t hit their bottom line so badly. A larger producer may be less choosy about where they send their yarn, figuring that if they send it to the right designer, it may end up that they sell 100,000 skeins instead of 50,000, and they’d just have to order more of that specification.
I think as long as you state that you have accepted this yarn without paying for it while you’re designing your whatever, that it’s ok to do so. As long as you’re up front with people on where the yarn came from, and don’t try to hide it, it’s probably an ok thing to do.
I am pretty comfortable with how I approach blogging about products
1. Yarn: Almost all designers get free yarn here and there and I don’t think there’s anything inappropriate about accepting free yarn. Because of the magazine model for producing knitting patterns, almost all the most popular patterns have been knit from yarn supplied at no cost to the knitter or publisher. I think it’s par for the course.
2. Book reviews: If I’m asked to do one, I will decide if it’s a book review I’d like to do and if it is, I will clearly state, at the top of my post, that I was approached to write the review. I also have no objections to stating my genuine opinion of the book, good or bad.
3. Link backs: I delete emails simply asking me to link to someone. I will link to a company on my links page if I have had a good experience with them and like their products. For instance, I always link back to the Golding website when I post about my spindles. Honestly, if I didn’t, inevitably, someone would ask about it and I’d have to send them a link anyway, but even for just general fiber arts supplies, I like to link to companies who I think offer good values to customers and good customer service as well. I won’t name names, but there’s a site I know of that has a great selection but dreadful customer service so I don’t shop with them and I don’t link to them. Anything that is an outright advertisement, appears in a clearly designated spot on my blog.
In all cases, I feel that two rules apply to any situation where I might be potentially advertising for a company or product.
Firstly, I am honest about my relationship, if any, with the company or individual. If I’m reviewing my best friend’s book, I’m going to say as much. If I was sent needles for free, by a marketing director at a company, I’ll say as much. I don’t ever want a reader to feel mislead.
Secondly, if someone sends me something free it’s my prerogative to review it honestly. If someone sends me a book and it’s got major errors in it, I’ll say as much. If a yarn bleeds all over my hands, I’ll say so. It’s sender beware and I’m happy to state as much before sharing my address with the person.
My 2¢
Just wanted to say that I have never blogged about anything I love unless I really really love it. No one’s ever paid me or compensated me for my opinions in any way.
I think as long as you’re up front about how you obtained the product, it isn’t a problem. Although, what if you hate it? That might be tricky. I personally would feel icky about dissing a yarn (e.g.) on my blog if it had been sent to me gratis. And do you send it back, or give it away?